Leadership Credo
Here’s my oh so reluctant stab at naming what I think “leaders” should be held accountable to, that I had to do for class.
I believe leadership is an unhelpful word. In all parts of our life, we follow, are followed and struggle for unity – and diversity.
I believe that wanting to be liked is not a sin, and should not deter from offering one’s voice.
I believe fear of responsibility is not a sin and should not deter from offering one’s service.
I believe self-righteousness is not a virtue and should not guarantee words being heeded.
I believe being able to “power-through” is not a virtue and should not guarantee dictates being obeyed.
I believe our inability to gauge one another’s value and our tendency to miscalculate our own, is a fact and should not deter us from trying to listen and trying to speak.
I believe charisma is not a measure of one’s ability to guide others, nor introversion the mark of an administrator.
I believe vision without action is nonsense, and action without vision is laziness.
I believe the greater effort is to become one who can be converted, rather than one who converts.
No one is always a leader and never a follower, thus the term leadership is a deficient construct that serves only to exalt one perspective (or person) at the cost of lowering another.
Therefore, I believe the process of guiding and being guided is an ever-expanding movement towards maturity through humility.
1 | Jarrod
June 26th, 2008 at 5:08 pm
Reluctant…but well stated.
Thanks for posting this. Your words make the term “leadership” less deficient.
Here’s to your life of redefining what it means to lead.
2 | Ashley Jennings
June 27th, 2008 at 11:34 pm
i like the converted part..
3 | Jen HW
June 29th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
LOVE this: “I believe the greater effort is to become one who can be converted, rather than one who converts.”